‘Space age’ comes to Bury for leaf fall trials
THE East Lancashire Railway has been used for trials of space-age technology as it seeks to find a more sustainable way to vaporise leaves from the main line during the autumn leaf fall season.
Throughout October, Network Rail carried out comprehensive testing of its multi-purpose vehicles on the heritage line, which saw some fitted with laser beams and superheated plasma jets to test whether these are as effective at cleaning the rails as the current high-pressure water systems employed on the national network.
NR project engineer Suhayb Manzoor said: “Leaves on the line are often seen as a joke on the railway but they can cause serious problems and we’re always looking at new ways to tackle this age-old problem.
“It is exciting to be putting some of the newest technology out there to test with the hope that one day it could help NR keep passengers and freight moving safely at this operationally challenging time of year.”
Two firms are involved in the tests, the first being Laser Precision Solutions, whose system uses three high-powered beams per railhead. When the intensity of the lasers hits the railhead, the contamination instantly vaporises without heating up the rail. LPS’s first prototype was deployed in the US in 2018 and is now being trialled globally on multiple 60mph trains. The LaserTrain also boasts low-energy consumption with no by-products, so is highly ecofriendly.
Ben Mendorp, the firm’s head of finance and commerce, said: “You normally have to move mountains to get access to a railway network, so having a testing site like this – which is secluded, and where you can take measurements every day – is essential to gather data.
“We are proving technologies and learning valuable lessons that could help railways around the world.”
The second firm, PlasmaTrack, employs direct current plasma technology. This works by superheating compressed gas to form plasma energy, which is then applied to the railhead at about 700ºc, thermally ablating the compressed leaf layer.
Plasma energy is used in industry for cleaning, sterilisation, and material deposition, but this is the first time it has been developed into a robust system suitable for deployment on rail networks.
Chief executive officer Julian Swan said: “We have learned much on how the autumn treatment trains currently operate and how the PlasmaTrack system could benefit train wheel traction and preventing wheel slide caused by leaves on the line.”
The current NR system uses about 200 million litres of water each year over one million miles of treatment between October and December – the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back twice.
ELR chairman Mike Kelly said: “We are proud to provide our infrastructure to allow NR to do its important research and development and are excited to be at the forefront of technology which could make millions of future journeys better for passengers around the country.”